Which Boy Next Door
by g1ngersnap
Summary: AU/AH. Both Jacob & Edward were Bella’s neighbors, but in different states. “Which Boy Next Door?” - you will decide whom Bella will end up with. Battle between Team Jacob & Team Edward. Reviews will count so the end of this story is up to you :D
1. New York

**Disclaimer: My name is not Stephenie Meyer and I don't own Twilight. I don't own Edward either *sigh***

When I got off the plane, I couldn't help but smile. This was going to be my first time to be away from my parents. And here I was, not just in any place, I was in New York. I wanted to shout 'Hello, New York!' but I stopped myself. I giggled and walked towards the baggage claim area. It was an adventure that I had been looking forward to and dreading at the same time. This was the first time I ever set foot out of the rainy state of Washington and the thought of actually living here for the next four college years of my life was exhilarating. However, I was a bit worried what it would be like to live here without my parents, especially my mother, Renee. I had always been with her and the thought of being away from my mother made me sad.

I grew up in a dark place called Forks, Washington, where it felt like we had more rain than any part of the state. My dad, Charlie, was Forks' Chief of Police, and my mom stayed at home. I was an only child. Alice Brandon, my maternal cousin, was the closest person I have as a sister.

Alice lived in the wonderful city of San Francisco, California. Her mom and my mom were sisters. They were both from Washington, but when Aunt Cynthia got married, she and her husband moved to San Francisco. Alice, also an only child and I were the same age so it was no doubt that we grew up like sisters, only separated by another state, Oregon. Almost every summer, one of us spent the summer in each other's home. It was not until junior in high school that we had stopped the summer vacation since both of us took college level classes over the summer for college credentials. The summer classes paid off for me because I was admitted with full scholarship to NYU. Alice applied and got admitted to Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

It took days of convincing before dad agreed to let me go to NYU. Mom helped me present my case; she told him that this was a good opportunity for me to explore the outside world. Dad wanted me to go to University of Washington in Seattle, wherein I also got accepted, but the thought of being on my own weighed more. Besides, I got a full scholarship with NYU; it would be such a waste to pass up on it.

"Bella!" I heard my name called out from the crowd of the people shuffling around the airport. One would think that my short pixie-like cousin would be hard to spot among the crowd, but with her hands flailing was hard to miss. I quickly rolled my luggage to where she was standing.

"Alice!" I shrieked when she was in full view. We hugged each other for a long time; a lot of people in the waiting area were looking at us, but both of us didn't really care so much. "It's been a long time," I said to her when we both loosened our arms around each other.

"That's because you never came down to visit," she pouted.

"We were both busy, remember?" I said. "You're lucky Mom convinced Dad to let me go. He was ready to handcuff me in the car if Mom wasn't there to set him right." My mom cried when I was leaving, but we both knew that I needed to be independent and this was my chance to learn how to fly, so to speak.

"Uncle Charlie is so funny," Alice chimed as she grabbed my hand carry. "You pack so light," she chuckled. Alice always had at least four suitcases every time she visited Forks even though she was only going to stay for a few weeks.

"I don't have a lot of clothes," I said as I rolled my luggage after her.

"Well, we're going to be New Yorkers now so you need to 'polish up' a bit," Alice said and I rolled my eyes at her. "Not too much, Bella, don't worry. I'm glad that you listened to me in terms of your outer wear. It's just the make up I'm a bit worried about with you." Every summer, Alice played Bella-Barbie until I got tired of her and started to do it myself. I became a bit choosy of the clothes I wore, but I still hadn't gotten used to putting make up. The most I ever put was a little powder, eyeliner and lip gloss. Apparently, it wasn't enough. "I won't have to do all the work. Rosalie will do it with me," she continued.

"Rosalie? As in your new roommate Rosalie?" I asked. Alice met Rosalie during her orientation in Fashion Institute of Technology. Alice applied for Fashion Design, while Rosalie applied for Advertising and Marketing Communications. "She already moved in?"

"Yup, yesterday. Don't worry, I already assigned the rooms before she moved in so it's not like you were left out. I was the one who found the apartment anyway," Alice answered. Alice had everything planned out even before she got accepted to FIT. She said that she had a premonition that we would be both accepted in the schools in New York so she started looking for apartment early this year. She scored a three bedroom flat and it worked out perfect since she met Rosalie and we wouldn't need to find another roommate. "I'll have the biggest bedroom, of course, with the attached bathroom. You two will share the other bathroom, but don't worry; I got you the bigger bedroom." Uncle Corvin, Alice's dad, was loaded so the rent of the flat was paid for. All we need to worry about were utilities and food.

"What is Rosalie like?" I asked as we rode the taxi to our new place.

"You know Heidi Klum?" she asked and I nodded. After being dragged to Victoria Secret over and over to buy matching underwear although I didn't see any use of it, I started to familiarize myself with their models. "Kinda like that, but a bit toned down." I gulped. "Oh, don't worry, she's very nice. I wouldn't have asked her to move in with us if we're not going to get along," Alice assured me and I believed her.

--

Alice helped me put my stuff in the drawers. She inspected everything in my luggage and I was glad that she didn't think anything should be thrown away. I was still traumatized when she first chucked almost half of my closet one summer. After that, I learned my lesson.

"Where is she?" I asked.

"She's on a date. She met this guy yesterday while she was waiting for the bus," Alice answered. Our apartment was conveniently located near a Metro stop that would take us both to NYU and FIT.

"She went on a date with a guy she met in a bus stop?" I asked. "That was an unlikely place to get picked up on."

"That's what I said but she said he looked decent," Alice answered. "She said he goes to NYU, too. Who knows, maybe you'll even meet him there."

"I doubt it. I'm taking English Literature and NYU is a big school," I answered as I closed all the drawers. I flopped on my bed for the next four years, at least. Alice got the place fully furnished; she just bought new beddings.

Alice sat at the edge of my bed. "I'm calling dibs," she said and I arched my eyebrow at her. "There's this really cute blond who lives across the street." She grabbed my hand and we went by the window. She pointed to the building directly in front of ours. "He just moved in the day before yesterday. I told Rosalie that he's off-limits since I saw him first."

"Alice, you moved in less than a week ago and you already scoped out the place for hotties?" I laughed at her. Alice was a walking guy-radar; she could easily spot a cute guy from afar. She was the first to point out that my next door neighbor back in Forks was hot.

--

Jacob Black. He was the son of Billy, my dad's best friend and our neighbor back in Forks. He was my best friend, next to Alice, of course. We grew up together, played together, got in trouble together and went to school together. He became my defender and I was his. We were inseparable until we started high school. A lot of things changed with Jacob physically. They said that boys developed slower than girls, but when he did, boy oh boy, did he develop. He grew tall, more than six feet, and he was muscular. I guessed his Quileute blood came into play with that.

When we were in high school, we would still go to school together, but he would go with his own friends and I would go with mine. I figured it would be different when we started high school anyway because it was the time that peer pressure became really strong. I was just glad that the peer pressure didn't affect any of us in a bad way. Jacob joined the football team while I was in Literature club. Total opposites, as Alice described it. But regardless of our differences, we still found some time to hang out during lunch time.

A lot of girls ogled over Jacob which I didn't understand why at first. He was a guy, yes, but he was still Jacob. It wasn't until the Spring Dance in sophomore year that I saw what the other girls and Alice did, he was hot.

"You clean up well," I teased him when he picked me up for the dance. It was a girl's choice dance and I asked him right away so that I wouldn't be left out. I was never into dances, but since my other best friend, Angela, begged me to go, I asked the guy who I knew wouldn't turn me down.

"You don't look so bad yourself," he chuckled and led me to his car. At sixteen, Jacob got his license right away. It helped since his Billy suffered the consequence of diabetes and was now on a wheelchair. His mother died of childbirth complication and now he was the one taking Billy around town.

After I got the pictures from that dance, I sent the email to Alice. She called me right away and started blabbing about how blind I was for not seeing what a catch Jacob was. I looked at our pictures and couldn't help but smile. Alice was right. Jacob was a catch. I looked pale against his russet skin, but we looked good together. That's when I developed a little crush on Jacob.

--

"He's right there," Alice squealed. I looked at what she was pointing at and saw a tall blond guy standing on the balcony across the street.

"He's cute alright," I said, "and probably rich too. They got an apartment with a balcony."

"It only has two bedrooms," Alice said without looking at me.

"And you know this how?"

"I asked when I saw him at Starbucks yesterday," she answered and I pinched her. "Ow! What? It was an innocent question!"

"You are unbelievable. I can't believe you already made your move," I laughed while she rubbed her arm that I pinched.

"I'm all first moves but that's it, you know that," Alice said and looked at the guy across the street. "If he's interested, he'll ask."

"Did he at least ask for your number or you freely gave it to him?" I asked her.

"I never give out my number," she shrieked. I knew she hated it when I accused her of giving away her number to guys. "And I didn't give him a chance to ask. After I got my Chai Latte, I left. Let him work a little."

"You're crazy," I said.

"I have a good feeling about Jasper and me," she said.

"You always have a good feeling about everything," I exhaled and sat down on the sofa.

"I have a good feeling about his roommate and you," she said and I jumped up to see who she was referring to. My mouth fell open when I saw Adonis standing beside 'Jasper.' Adonis has bronze hair and was just as tall as Jasper but not as lanky. He was wearing a slightly fitted shirt and I didn't need to be near him to notice that his body was built. I saw Alice move but I didn't realize what she was doing until she shouted, "Hey Jasper!" Damn pixie opened the window. I jumped out of the view.

"What the hell are you doing?" I shrieked.

"We are going to meet the man of your dreams," she said and pulled me out of the apartment before I could protest.

--

A/N: What do you think so far? I am going more into detail about Jacob and Adonis, who is obviously Edward.


	2. Chills

**Disclaimer: My name is not Stephenie Meyer and I don't own Twilight. I don't own Edward either *sigh***

"I thought you said that Jacob was the man of my dreams," I huffed. She didn't even let me shower before deciding that we would go out and meet the guys from across the street. Speaking of Jacob, I quickly sent him a text message that I arrived safely. I already called my parents while I was still at the airport.

"Your Washington dreams. New York dreams are totally different," Alice said as she pressed the elevator button.

Since we were little, Alice had always filled my mind with romantic stories and possibilities. It was funny when we were kids, but it got a bit tiresome when we started high school. After freshman year in high school, she went through the pictures in the yearbook and assigned to me whom I should consider going out with. And she didn't know anyone from my high school aside from Jacob and Angela. After sophomore year, she said that things looked good between me and Jacob and that I should consider the possibilities. I considered it a lot, but nothing really progressed between me and Jacob. After the Spring Dance in sophomore year, things went back to just being friends. Jacob showed no interest in pushing our friendship further and all I felt for him was just a little crush so it didn't bother me so much.

Senior year was when things started to become interesting with Jacob. After his absence in my junior year, he said he was busy with his job and basketball games, he was very visible the year after. Angela even thought that he stepped up and became my boyfriend. I laughed when she said that because aside from picking me up and dropping me off each school day, there was really nothing going on. We hang out during lunch, but we always went out as a group. The only intimate moment that we had was the Senior Prom. Jacob asked me to go with him to the prom even though girls lined up to be asked by him. And these were not just any girls, some of them were cheerleaders. When he asked me, it started quite a stir in school but he made it loud and clear that we were just friends.

That actually bugged the heck out of me. If we were just friends, why was he blocking the guys who were interested in me then? Okay, there weren't so many to list, but I knew of at least three. First was Eric Yorkie, he was the geek of the school and Alice would have my head if I went out with him, but he didn't even get to ask me out because Jacob scared the heck out of him when he first asked if I already had a boyfriend. Next was Tyler Crowley. That guy was not your resident jock but he was quite popular with the Football team. If Jacob wasn't so tall, Tyler would've tackled him down so that he could get to me. The last guy was Mike Newton. That guy was the one that Alice would have approved of but Jacob decided that I should focus on my studies rather than go out on a date with Mike. Nice move, Jacob. After Mike, nobody showed any more interest in me in high school, hence my empty love life. I was seventeen and never had an official date. I blamed Jacob.

I would have stayed mad at Jacob for the longest time if I didn't have the best time of my life during Senior Prom. Jacob stayed on my side the whole time and danced with me. He didn't block off any guys who asked to dance with me, but when the music was slow, he made sure he was the one I was dancing with.

"He couldn't keep his eyes off you," Angela said while we were in the rest room.

"Who?"

"Jacob, duh! If I may say so, I think the guy is head over heels," she teased.

"I think you need to get new prescription. Your eyesight's playing tricks on you," I said but my heart was dancing in my chest.

I tried to be discreet while looking at Jacob after that conversation in the rest room. Angela was right; his eyes were on me the whole time and I felt butterflies in my stomach. I was flattered and I started thinking about what Alice said. _"You two should try to cross that line," _but I wasn't sure if what I felt for him was that strong. I knew I felt something special for him, but the risk of losing our friendship still weighed more in my heart than any romantic feelings I might have for him. I didn't even know if Jacob actually felt something stronger for me, but I didn't have to wait for long.

After the dance, Jacob dropped me home and unlike the other times, he got out of the car and rushed to my door so he could assist me while I stepped out. "Such a gentleman," I teased as I put my hand on his.

"Only for the beautiful lady," he said as we walked to the porch.

"Good night, Jake," I smiled.

He didn't say anything but just looked at me with so much intensity in his eyes. He lifted my chin with his finger and placed a quick chaste kiss on my lips, "Good night." He turned around and went to his car as I stood frozen in place. That was my first kiss.

--

"Pull your hair from that pony tail," Alice instructed before we head out the street.

"What's wrong with it?" I asked but yanked my hair out anyway.

"You look better with your hair down," she winked at me. I practically had to run as she hurried to Starbucks at the end of the block. When we reached the door, Jasper and Adonis were already seated in the corner with four cups of coffee on the table.

"Hey, Alice," Jasper got up and bowed his head. The guy freaking bowed. Who does that?! Adonis got up, too, but at least he didn't bow. "This is my friend, Edward; he's from Chicago. Edward, this is Alice." Edward was it? It sounded classic. It suited him.

Alice shook Edward's hand and introduced me, "This is my cousin, Bella; she's from Washington." She then pointed to the two guys, "This is Jasper and Edward." Jasper extended his hand to me. I quickly shook it and turned to Edward, whose hand was waiting. The handshake with Edward was something else. I shook hands with other guys before, but this was the very first time I felt electricity ran down my spine. Even Jacob's kiss did not make me feel that way. Damn!

"Here's your Chai Latte," Jasper said to Alice, "and Caramel Macchiato for you," he said to me.

"Wow, how did you know?" I asked, intrigued.

"It was a guess," Edward answered with an angelic voice that suited his Adonis-like looks.

"Impressive," Alice chimed. She gave me a quick nudge and mouthed _'good feeling.' _I rolled my eyes at her. We sat down across the guys and talked about college. "I'm incoming freshman in FIT. Bella's taking English Lit in NYU."

"NYU? Which one?" Jasper asked.

"College of Arts and Science," I answered.

"We're in NYU Steinhardt. I'm psychology major, sophomore," Jasper said. "Edward here is incoming freshman."

"What are you taking?" Alice asked.

"Public Health major, Music minor," Edward answered. He must have noticed my puzzled look because he continued, "I play the piano." Both Alice and I nodded.

The conversation continued for about a minute or two when my cell phone rang. I knew that ring tone by heart and I was all giddy inside. It was Jacob. "Excuse me," I said and stepped outside. "Hey!" I said with much enthusiasm.

"_How's the trip?"_ Jacob asked. Hearing his voice made me smile.

"It was good. I kinda slept through the whole trip. If there was any turbulence, I didn't feel it," I chuckled.

"_You were always a deep sleeper,"_ he laughed. When we were little, Jacob would always jump on my bed to wake me up. He learned that it was the best way to wake me up. A little nudge would not do the trick. When we started growing up and he was no longer allowed to enter my room, he would pound on the door and shout 'FIRE!' so that I would get up and ran for my life. I hated him during those times. He only stopped when dad got mad at him when he heard Jacob one time because he panicked while he was in the bathroom.

"At least I was not one of those people who need to take cough medicine before getting on the plane," I chuckled. "When are you driving to Seattle?" Jacob and I applied for University of Washington in Seattle and both of us got accepted. Jacob was ecstatic that we got accepted, but all the energy left him when I told him that I was going to NYU instead. A part of me wanted to attend UW so that I could be closer to Jacob and maybe move along with the progress we made in senior prom that none of us brought up in any conversation. A part of me, a bigger part, wanted to be with Alice and experience life outside Washington.

"_Sunday night. Rachel still needs to clean up the room I'm gonna sleep in. She said that most of Paul's stuff is still in there and he won't be able to clear it out until Sunday morning,"_ he answered. Rachel was Jacob's sister who moved to Seattle when she went to college. She went home every weekend before until she started working full time. After that, she only went home every month. Rebecca, Rachel's twin, moved to Hawaii and they haven't seen her since her last visit two summers ago. Paul was Rachel's husband of a few months and was nice enough to offer their place for Jacob. That way, Jacob didn't have to worry about paying for a dorm.

"Send my love to Rach," I said.

"_I will."_

He then fell silent. I looked at my screen to make sure we didn't get disconnected. "You still there?" I asked.

"_I miss you already," _he said with a sad voice.

"Same here," I sighed. I missed him more than I thought possible. Before the conversation became dramatic, we said quick goodbyes. I hang up and walked back to the café while looking at my telephone screen. The glass door swung open and I got hit on the head. "Ow!"

"I'm so sorry, Bella, I didn't see you," Edward said and rubbed my head. He was holding his phone on his ear. "Mom, I'll call you back," he hung up and looked at my head. "That might leave a bump. Let's get you inside and I'll ask for ice."

Edward guided me to the seats where Alice and Jasper seated. Alice looked up and saw me holding my head. "Bella, what happened?"

"I accidentally hit her head with the door," Edward explained. "Just sit for a second, I'm gonna ask for some ice." Not a minute later, he held a cloth with ice on my head. "I'm really sorry, Bella."

"It's not your fault. I wasn't looking," I smiled at him.

"What in the world were you doing when you got hit by the door?" Alice asked.

"I was looking at my phone," I mumbled.

"Who called?"

"Jacob," I answered.

"Oh, okay," was all Alice said. I felt the ice shifted on my head. Edward moved a bit. I wondered why.

"I'll feel better if you're lying down," Edward said. Alice and Jasper got up. Edward helped me up and I swayed a little. "Whoa, careful. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I just stood too fast. I'm fine," I said.

"Maybe you should carry her," Alice suggested.

I shot dagger looks at her, "I can walk." I said and steadied myself. Edward kept an arm around my waist for support while he held the ice on my hand with the other. I felt chills crept up inside me, and the ice pack had nothing to do with it.

--

A/N: How about some cheers for Team Edward?

Team Jacob, settle down – Jacob will have his time, of course XD


	3. Rosalie

**Disclaimer: My name is not Stephenie Meyer and I don't own Twilight. I don't own Edward either *sigh***

Edward and Jasper walked us to our apartment. Edward made sure that I was comfortable on my bed before he left my room to get an actual ice bag. I didn't notice earlier what he used to hold the ice together back in Starbucks. I lifted it from my head and noticed it was a hanky. I didn't know guys in the East Coast used hankies too.

I remembered when Jacob started bringing a hanky and first aid kit in his bag. I was born clumsy and I thought was going to grow out of it, but I didn't. Jacob had taken the task of being my personal nurse. He always had a hanky with him so that if we hang out and none of us had any bag, he would always have something to dub my wounds with. It was a simple friendly gesture before, but now that I thought about, it was the sweetest thing someone has ever done for me.

Jacob had always been my protector and I couldn't ask for more. Lois never complained when a drop dead gorgeous Superman came to her rescue every time she was in danger. Jacob was like that, my personal Superman, drop dead gorgeous description included. I couldn't help but smile at the memories of Jacob. I missed him already and I was just with him the day before yesterday.

I heard a light knock on the door. The door was wide open, but Edward still knocked. How cute was that? "Here," he said and placed the ice pack on the spot where the door hit my head earlier.

"Thanks," I said, both for the new ice pack and for what he did in the café.

"You sure you're going to be okay?" he asked with sincerity. I nodded. "You want me to close the door?" I nodded again and he left. I heard voices from the living room but I slowly drifted to sleep.

--

I stretched my arms and felt something cold on my bed. The ice pack must have fallen from my head when I drifted off to sleep. I smelled coffee, bacon and toast. Breakfast was calling. I looked at the time and noticed it was only six in the morning. Why in the world was somebody up already? I got up and grabbed my toiletries from the night stand. After I pulled my hair in a pony tail, I headed out of the room. I saw a blond girl standing with her back on me. "Rosalie?" I asked.

The goddess in a jogging suit turned to me. "Good morning, Bella," she smiled. She looked wide awake. A morning person, I groaned. I showed her my toiletries and headed to the bathroom to wash up. After brushing my teeth, I joined Rosalie in the kitchen/dining area.

"You're up early," I stated the obvious. I put some creamer and sugar to my mug before putting the coffee. I didn't like it when I had to put the coffee first because sometimes not all the sugar dissolves.

"I went for a run," she said. "You should come with me some time," she invited and I almost shoot out the coffee through my noise. She had a lot to know about me.

"Running and I don't mix too well. I'm uncoordinated," I said.

"That sucks. Alice won't go with me either. She said she only runs in the mall," Rosalie said and I laughed.

"Just you wait until Black Friday," I said to Rose and she shook her head. Alice, in New York, on Black Friday. One could only imagine the chaos.

A few years back, Alice's family spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Forks. It was nice and festive and even though there were just ten of us, including the Blacks and Paul, mom and Aunt Cynthia prepared a feast that could feed more than twenty people. During dinner, Alice said that we would go to Seattle for Black Friday shopping. We used to go to Port Angeles but when she discovered the joy in shopping in Seattle, she said that we would drive all the way there. She invited Jacob to come along and he agreed.

"Great. We're leaving at two thirty to have enough driving time," Alice said. At first, I thought she was kidding, until at two in the morning the next day, she pulled my blanket and dragged me to the bathroom to get ready. I was still half asleep when I heard the front door opened and Jacob walked in.

"What did I get myself into?" he muttered.

"Welcome to hell," I said.

Alice handed both of us disposable cups of coffee, "Stop complaining, you two. You," he pointed to Jacob, "agreed to this. And you," she then pointed to me, "are pretty much obligated to come since you're the closest thing I have for a sister." She then pushed both me and Jacob towards the chilly air outside to get in the car. "I'll drive while you two warm up your bodies."

After driving for about two hours, Alice parked the car and hurried off the nearest store entrance while she tugged both me and Jacob along as if we were kids trying to run away from our mother. Well, it did feel that way. I was glad that I didn't comply with her 'wear nice shoes when you're going out' rule. She was wearing boots, I was wearing tennis shoes. There was no way I would go around the stores for hours with heels. That would just send me straight to the ER. I felt worse for Jacob because I only had to try on dozens of clothes. Jacob not only was forced to try on clothes, he was forced to carry the shopping bags. If he only knew what he was getting into, he would have kept his mouth shut.

When Alice decided that she already got everything she wanted to buy, Jacob and I were pretty much drained to the last drop of our energy. Since Alice had the most energy, she drove back to Forks, while Jacob and I tried to sleep while ignoring Alice's babbling about what great stuff we got that day. My whole body was sore after that trip and I made my parents promise not to let Alice do that do me ever again.

"When's your first day?" Rosalie asked, pulling me from my memories.

"On Monday, but I'm going to the NYU Main Bookstore later today to get my schedule," I answered. Although I was in full scholarship, my allowance was limited and living with Alice would be a challenge because she would drag me around and shop. I wanted to have some money saved up for myself and for the unnecessary shopping trips so I decided to accept a job in the campus bookstore.

"I'm not doing anything later, can I tag along?" she asked.

"Sure. I'm not sure if Alice is coming. What time did she get up yesterday?" I asked. Alice was not a morning person, except for shopping trips.

"Ten," Rosalie answered. "She was still up talking on the phone when I got home last night."

"What time did you get in?" I asked.

"Eleven thirty," she answered. "I was supposed to be home by nine, but that jackass wanted to stay longer in the party that we crashed. I had to make up and excuse and stayed in Borders until almost closing."

We both laughed at what she just said. "I can't believe you did that," I said and she just shrugged. "Alice said you met him at the bus stop."

"She warned me about it, but Royce looked decent. Stupid prick lied to his teeth that he knew the guy who was having the party. Everyone was staring at us when we got inside the house," Rosalie said.

"Alice said he went to NYU?"

"He did go to NYU, but dropped out after a semester. Lying bastard wasted my time."

"Did Alice tell you about Jasper?" I changed the subject. Rosalie looked at me with arched eyebrow. "Guess she didn't. When we got here yesterday from the airport, she called dibs on the guy from across the street. The timing was perfect because Mr. Blond went out to the balcony. Alice called out his attention and we all met at Starbucks with his roommate."

"Dang, she's fast," Rosalie chuckled.

"Oh yeah, she doesn't waste time. It's probably Jasper she's talking to last night," I said.

"Could be. She was smiling from ear to ear." She looked at the time on the microwave, "What time are you going to the bookstore?"

"Let's leave at eleven then probably walk around then grab lunch or something," I suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. That gives us four more hours. I had to cut my jogging short earlier; the air's a bit musky. Maybe I'll do some yoga later," Rosalie said. "Do you yoga?"

"That I can do," I said. "It's the only exercise I can do without inflicting too much physical damage to myself or others," I laughed. "It's seven right now. Say an hour and a half?" I asked and she nodded. I went to my room and rearranged my stuff from yesterday. I was a bit obsessive compulsive when it comes to my stuff so I had to place them according to my liking.

About two hours later, Alice woke up and drank coffee while Rosalie and I were in the middle of our yoga poses. "You're still into that?" Alice asked sleepily.

"Yeah," I huffed. "You should try it. It's a bit relaxing."

"No, thanks. You two don't look relaxed to me," she mumbled and poured a second cup.

"You're just not flexible," Rosalie chuckled.

"Alice, are you going to the bookstore with us? We're leaving at eleven then we'll grab lunch somewhere," I said while stretching.

"No can do. Jasper's taking me to lunch," Alice answered. Rosalie reached for the remote to put the DVD on pause while both of us stared at Alice with mouths hung open. "What?" she asked.

"You're not kidding, Bella. Your cousin's faster than Speedy Gonzales," Rosalie laughed.

"Who asked who?" I said and looked at Alice intently.

"He did, Bella. I don't ask guys out, remember?" Alice sneered.

"Just making sure. You don't usually go out with guys that fast either. What happened to at least a day to think it over? I asked.

Alice had the funniest dating tips I had ever heard, but I never really got to use any of them since I didn't date while I was in high school. Jacob, Angela, Alice and I were at the porch while watching cars pass on the summer after sophomore year in high school. "Alice, I've known Ben for years," Angela protested because Alice said that Angela should have not agreed to go out on a date with Ben since they just talked over the phone the night before. It would sound desperate.

"I know that, Angela, but this is a different playing field now," Alice tried to explain. "You should have said that you'll think about it."

"I know I'm going to say yes anyway," Angela protested.

"What do you think, Jacob?" Alice asked the only guy in the group.

"I would rather have the girl say yes right away if she's interested because I wouldn't ask if I wasn't interested in the first place. I don't like it when girls talk in codes," Jacob answered.

"You are so out of the norm," Alice rolled her eyes but I couldn't help but smile. If Jacob's interested in me, at least I would know right away.

"Remember what Jacob said before," Alice answered my question, "if a guy is interested, he'll let you know right away. That's just exactly what Jasper did." She took a sip from the cup, "Edward's tugging along if you want to join us."

I was thankful that I was not in yoga position at the time that she mentioned Edward or I probably would have fallen down and broke a bone or pulled a muscle. "No, thanks," I answered sheepishly.

"Who's Jacob and who's Edward?" Rosalie asked.


End file.
